In all honesty, the top 5 that I listed were each really good, with Bobby Cannavale even being okay. I don’t know why or how the hell Will Forte got nominated. He has less screen time than Margaret Cho did last year. And at least Margaret Cho was funny in her minimal screentime. Aren’t there better episodes he could have submitted than that? I went into Newharts tape expecting to see something really spectacular, and I have to admit I was a little dissapointed. He was good, but I didn’t find him to be as good as everyone was expecting him to be. Nathan Lane was better in this episode of MF than I remembered him being. Justin Timberlake was the usual Justin-Timberlake-hosts-SNL type. But Louis CK, I felt, was alot better than Justin.

Honestly, I can see any of the top 3 women winning this. Melissa McCarthy was HILARIOUS on SNL, and my favorite sketch was the basketball coach. I also really liked the Pizza box sketch. Melissa Leo was also really good on Louie, and I could see her beating McCarthy. Elaine Stritch was good in her episode, though I am glad she wont be eligible for this role next year because I’m a little tired of seeing her play the same schtick on 30 Rock. I’ve seen her do this 5 times now, and its old. Kristen couldn’t win in supporting, and I doubt she’ll win in Guest either, especially since her episode was REALLY bad! Dot-Marie Jones and Molly Shannon did nothing in their episodes.

OUSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIESI found that this category could have been so much better. David Lynch, Martin Short and Will Arnett would have made much better nominees and potential winners rather than Forte, Bobby Cannvale and Justin Timberlake.

Timberlake was funny in his episode, but there was absolutely nothing awards-worthy about the performance at all. He was better the last time around, and the time before. If he wins, its purely because of name recognition or because of the cameo-filled episode. Cannavale is an amazing actor, but he wasn’t Emmy-worthy in Nurse Jackie. Nathan Lane has better chances in Drama Guest Actor, but I will be happy if he wins in either category – as long as he wins in either category. Will Forte did absolutely nothing in his episode, and I feel he’s a total non-factor here.

Its between Bob Newhart and Louis CK. CK has the fact that his episode was one of the best of the seasons, and he was a true comedian hosting a true comedy show – it was almost like watching George Carlin host the first episode in 1975. He’s an everyman and if he can’t win in the other categories, this is the place for him. Newhart has never won an Emmy shockingly, and it looks like he is going to win here. I would personally not have him win his first here firstly because he wasn’t amazing in his episode, and he should really get a meatier role so he could win a triumphant Emmy.

These scores are calculated using a criteria which includes performance, resonance, accessibility and overall experience.

OUSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIESThis is a wonderful category because the women in it are actually deserving.

I believe it is going to be one of the Melissas who takes it, and that’s not a bad thing. However, I personally think Elaine Stritch has the best episode due to the death of her character. It was very sad, but still a hilarious episode and if she wins, I wouldn’t at all mind.

I’m not the biggest fan of Melissa Leo, but her performance in Louie was spectacular and she should be the rightful winner of the Emmy. McCarthy wasn’t bad this time around, but wasn’t as magical as last season. And she has an Emmy already, so there is not need to award her urgently. Molly Shannon was being Molly Shannon, which isn’t bad, but not Emmy-worthy. I adore Dot-Marie Jones and that she is getting recognized so much, but I do believe she needs to really step it up if she wants to win.

I’m glad I’m not the only one whos baffled by Forte’s nomination. Besides his undercover stunt as a statue in the church, I don’t remember him doing or appearing anywhere else in the episode. There were many other deserving candidates from 30 Rock who should’ve taken his place. I think Leo and CK should be the rightful winners here.

Molly Shannon was being Molly Shannon, which isn’t bad, but not Emmy-worthy.

I’m not sure what you mean by this. She was playing completely against type. And even if true, then by that logic Elaine Stich was being Elaine Strich.

Dot-Marie Jones and Molly Shannon did nothing in their episodes.

If by that you mean that Molly Shannon wasn’t funny enough, then fine. But she most certainly didn’t do “nothing” in her episode. She had more to do than Strich and her same-old routine, Dot-Marie Jones, and Wiig in her medicore SNL episode. Even though Shannon’s episode is more dramatic, her performance is simply not the least deserving.

I find a bit of curious fact that in the game now three women from SNL – McCarthy, Wiig & Shannon, who was nominated in 2000 for SNL (in the right place – Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program). Also Shannon should be nominated for guest role in “Will & Grace”, in that moment she was funny lady.

They really need to reinstate the “Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program” category. The guest comedy categories are always filled with SNL hosts trying to win a quick Emmy, and while some people have no problem with that, I’m not a fan.

I really enjoyed watching Melissa McCarthy and thought she was hilarious but I also felt the same way last year and since she didn’t win I don’t think she can win this year and will just lose to a bigger name. That’s why I think it’s Melissa Leo vs. Elaine Stritch. Melissa Leo was HILARIOUS in her tape and should easily take the win but voters love Elaine Stritch and the only time she’s lost was to previous winner Kathryn Joosten and to Tina Fey and Betty White and everybody knew those two had in the bag. This time the only person standing in her way is an Oscar winner. Could that be enough to take Stritch down? I don’t know but if Cloris Leachman can beat Kate Winslet then I think Elaine Stritch can beat Melissa Leo (not saying that the Emmys love Elaine Stritch nearly as much as they love Cloris Leachman or that Kate Winslet was on Oscar winner in 2005 but that was the same year she got her fourth Oscar nomination).

Everybody’s trying to write Dot Marie Jones down. I have watched the whole fourth season of Glee and she did nothing Emmy-worthy (in the Guest Actress category Hudson and Jessica Parker did a good job instead of her) but she’s still here. She’s nominated, for the third time which makes her an overdue for the Guest Comedy Actress Emmy. Why are people so sure about that they care about the actual performance, when they don’t? The Emmy is not an objective award, they goes with the popular choice…I mean Ellen Burstyn and her 14 second long Supporting nomination….or Margaret Cho last year. Ridic. Do you think they’ll reward the best of the category?

I think Jones is pretty much in the mix to win this, Glee got so much attention lately and if they want to reward the show in some way then it’s the best way to do that instead of awarding Lynch or the direction.

Everybody’s trying to write Dot Marie Jones down. I have watched the whole fourth season of Glee and she did nothing Emmy-worthy (in the Guest Actress category Hudson and Jessica Parker did a good job instead of her) but she’s still here. She’s nominated, for the third time which makes her an overdue for the Guest Comedy Actress Emmy. Why are people so sure about that they care about the actual performance, when they don’t? The Emmy is not an objective award, they goes with the popular choice…I mean Ellen Burstyn and her 14 second long Supporting nomination….or Margaret Cho last year. Ridic. Do you think they’ll reward the best of the category?

I think Jones is pretty much in the mix to win this, Glee got so much attention lately and if they want to reward the show in some way then it’s the best way to do that instead of awarding Lynch or the direction.

I figured that we’d been through this before. Multiple nominations for the same role in a guest category doesn’t mean that someone is necessarily overdue. As has been pointed out, Will Arnett, Fred Willard, and Georgia Engel all received 3 or more nominations in Comedy for playing the same characters on shows that were still nominated for Comedy Series, but were never seen as worthy/overdue enough to actually earn Emmy wins. Veronica Cartwright was nominated 3 consecutive times in Guest Actress in a Drama (twice for the same role) and could never win. One of the few times that a returning loser came back to win was Jeremy Davies in Justified, and that had more to do with him edging out a divided field of contenders. I’m not sure how one could argue that Dot-Marie Jones is an overdue nominee, as she’s never really been considered a frontrunner to win an Emmy even in the last two years that she was nominated (if anything, GoldDerby Editor chats have labeled her more as a filler nominee, like Robert Morse in Drama Guest Actor).

The comparisons to Ellen Burstyn and Margaret Cho confuse me, as those respective cases seem as far off from each other as possible. Burstyn was a case of voters rubberstamping a ballot because they didn’t care to look at the Miniseries race hard enough. It showed that they were incredibly lazy in their decision-making, given how they likely didn’t realize that her performance was only 14 seconds long. Cho’s nomination, on the other hand, implied that the voters actually were watching 30 Rock and were impressed with her performance, as she was hardly the biggest name in contention that year. So those were two very unique scenarios (and even then, nobody really thought that Cho had a chance to win for her 30 seconds of screentime).

I think Jones is pretty much in the mix to win this, Glee got so much attention lately and if they want to reward the show in some way then it’s the best way to do that instead of awarding Lynch or the direction.

I don’t think Glee has gotten much attention lately?Like Halo_Insider said, she is pretty much a filler nominee. She is a safe choice for lazy voters because they know her episodes are emotional and she has talent, but they don’t particularly see her as winning. I’d love for her to win, but I know its not going to happen this year.Jane Lynch is a previous winner and she is very recognizable on name alone. She is the main antagonist character in Glee, but was not nearly the best supporting actress of the year from that show. I think she got in on name alone.Paris Barclay has won two Emmys for directing already, so he is beloved in the Emmy voters circle.

I really enjoyed watching Melissa McCarthy and thought she was hilarious but I also felt the same way last year and since she didn’t win I don’t think she can win this year and will just lose to a bigger name. That’s why I think it’s Melissa Leo vs. Elaine Stritch. Melissa Leo was HILARIOUS in her tape and should easily take the win but voters love Elaine Stritch and the only time she’s lost was to previous winner Kathryn Joosten and to Tina Fey and Betty White and everybody knew those two had in the bag. This time the only person standing in her way is an Oscar winner. Could that be enough to take Stritch down? I don’t know but if Cloris Leachman can beat Kate Winslet then I think Elaine Stritch can beat Melissa Leo (not saying that the Emmys love Elaine Stritch nearly as much as they love Cloris Leachman or that Kate Winslet was on Oscar winner in 2005 but that was the same year she got her fourth Oscar nomination).

I agree that it is a battle between the two you mentioned above. Honestly, I would love to see either win. Leo because it would take her slightly closer to the EGOT, and because she was fantastic in the show, which I am terribly happy to see is getting more recognition. Stritch was wonderful in her episode – I really adore her as a person and in the show. Her character’s death was very sad, and if there is a 30 Rock sweep (which I hope), she definitely will win